Mmmm, doesn't that look tasty? Now that we're in the coldest, bleakest part of winter, steel cut oats make a really delicious and nutritious breakfast to fuel your next cold-weather run! And they're a total snap to make in a slow cooker, too. You set everything up and turn it on before you go to bed, and then in the morning, bam! Hot breakfast. Even lazy old me can manage this. Let me show you how easy it is!
To make oats in the slow cooker, you need a slow cooker (duh), some steel cut oats (the Quaker ones you see in the picture only set me back about $3.50), water, and a little salt. My slow cooker has a Teflon lining so the oatmeal won't stick at all.
To make 4 servings, add 1 cup of steel cut oats, 4 1/4 cups water, and 1/2 tsp salt to the slow cooker. Yeah, it looks nasty now, but just stay with me here.
Before you head off to bed for the night, plug the slow cooker in and set it to LOW. When you wake up in the morning, take off the lid, give it a good stir, put the lid back on, and turn it down to KEEP WARM or whatever the lowest setting is on your cooker.When you're ready to eat, fill your oatmeal bowl about halfway full with the oats. If you're adding frozen fruit, put it on the top and heat the whole bowl in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds. You want the fruit to be defrosted, but not so hot it turns to mush.
Next, add some nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds--they all work), a little dab of butter if you like, and other flavorings of your choice (jam, maple syrup, cinnamon and brown sugar, powdered sugar--the list is endless!). Enjoy!
This mix of blueberries, pecans, and brown sugar gets a big thumbs up from me!
This is my favorite so far: half a Granny Smith apple, half a banana, walnuts, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Heaven!!
MMM...rice cooker works well too if you are too spacy to remember to do it at night!
ReplyDeleteOoh, good idea! I don't have a rice cooker, but they are not expensive.
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